people
Let an agent describe peoples respectfully using self-designations, attributing identity claims to the groups themselves and to scholars, and avoiding stereotypes and racial essentialism.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions
Identity Which people.
Name
Self-designation.
Name
Self-designation.
- Which people is meant, and what name do they use for themselves? provenance
- Is an exonym offensive or outdated? boundary
Boundaries
Membership.
Boundaries
Membership.
- How is membership defined, and by whom? provenance
- Is it contested? boundary
Culture Language and heritage.
Language
Languages.
Language
Languages.
- Which languages does the people speak? provenance
- Are they endangered? provenance
Heritage
Traditions.
Heritage
Heritage.
- What traditions do community sources describe? provenance
- Are they described respectfully? boundary
Rights Collective rights.
Law
Recognition.
Law
Recognition.
- Is the people recognised as a minority or Indigenous people here? provenance
- Which rights apply? provenance
Organisations
Representation.
Organisations
Representative bodies.
- Which organisations represent the people? provenance
- How can they be contacted? action
Handling Respect.
Essentialism
Race myths.
Essentialism
Avoiding essentialism.
- Does the description imply fixed biological traits or racial hierarchy? boundary
- How can it be corrected? action
Senses
Disambiguation.
Senses
Other senses.
- Is people in the sense of persons generally meant? boundary
- Which entry fits? action
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Society, people and institutions
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- SOC
- Domain
- SOC.ORG
- Other names and narrower kinds
- Cook Islands Maori people, indigenous peoples of Africa, indigenous peoples of Oceania, Sumatrans, Orang Asli, indigenous peoples of Asia, native Indonesians, San, Tjimba people, Shinasha people, Garifuna, Temuan
What it is Filled
A people: a group of humans considered as a unit by shared ancestry, language, culture, history or territory, such as an ethnic group, nation or Indigenous people; membership and boundaries are often self-defined and contested.
Why it exists Filled
Let an agent describe peoples respectfully using self-designations, attributing identity claims to the groups themselves and to scholars, and avoiding stereotypes and racial essentialism.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Collective identity
- Self-defined boundaries
- Shared language or culture
- Some have recognised collective rights
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Treat a people as a biological race or assign fixed traits to its members.
- Use offensive exonyms or slurs.
- Decide who belongs to a people on the basis of appearance or ancestry data.
- Speak for a people or present one view as theirs.
Only with a human decision
- Statements about rights to land, recognition or membership.
May
- Describe peoples from reliable sources and their own self-descriptions, using the names they prefer.
- Note where membership and boundaries are contested.
Moral aspects Filled
- Peoples have faced persecution, displacement and genocide; essentialist descriptions feed that.
- Self-identification and self-determination deserve respect.
Who is affected
- Members of the people
- Indigenous peoples
- Minorities
Owners Filled
Steward
Nobody owns a people; it governs itself where it has its own institutions.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q16334295 - registry parent class
- Q874405 - registry parent class
related
- social group - category
- Indigenous peoples - kind
- language - attribute
- minority and Indigenous rights - rights
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.people
- Wikidata: Q2472587 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2472587)
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
Plane SOC: no invented physical properties.
Recognition optional Filled
- Self-designations and exonyms
- Ethnic, national and Indigenous peoples
- People as individuals in general is a different sense
- Not described by physical appearance; peoples are diverse.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- use preferred names for peoples
- describe language, culture and history from sources
- find representative organisations
- find information on collective rights
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Racial essentialism
- Stereotypes
- Using offensive exonyms
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
- Minority rights instruments
- Anti-discrimination law
Context of use required Filled
- Understanding human groups, identity and rights.
- ethnic groups
- nations
- Indigenous peoples of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas
- diaspora communities
- regional peoples
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q2472587: people - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: People - general description of the item
Open questions
- Should each people be a separate entry?
- How should self-designations be recorded?
- How should contested boundaries be shown?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q2472587/spec.json